Pension plans in America are a soup of letters and numbers. 401ks – IRAs – Roth IRAs. The tangled safety net for retirement has been in a constant state of repair, but new proposals by the Bush administration are offering some of the most radical alterations yet. No more tucking away pre-tax money. No more taxes on withdrawals. A new Personal Savings Account that comes restriction-free.
Sound too good to be true? Some are warning that these proposals are part of a long term shift away from institutional plans and a move toward personal responsibility for pension saving. The potential downside: give the middle class control of its own money, and they’ll likely do anything but save it. Planning for retirement…all by yourself.
Guests:
Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College
Chris Edwards, director of fiscal policies at the Cato institute.